small engine question

I have a toro lawn mower that when you push the bulb primer it will start right up and then die. If you continue to keep pushing the primer bulb it will continue to run until you stop and then dies. Any ideas? Thanks

It will be kind of akward mowing the lawn while you’re bent over beside the mower. Maybe you can put a handle down there to make pushing easier?

Using the plastic handle of a small screwdriver, gently tap the float bowl. Tap all around it and from underneath as well. Don’t tap hard enough to dent the cup. The prime and start. Keep near the primer bulb to continue priming as needed. Try dumping the fuel in the tank and using fresh gas if you haven’t run this machine for a while.

I work on my own small engines, maybe that’s why none of them run. No really, if your a fair mechanic take the carb apart and run carburator cleaner through all the passages and on each piece. Reassemble useing the same amount of turns on the gas and air mixture screws as when you took it apart. If your going to do this, turn all the gas/air screws until they bottom out or stop and count those turns to an 1/8’th of a turn. Then when you reassemble the carb you have saved your gas/air screw mixtures and then just reassemble. It sounds like the carb is plugged and gas and air won’t flow freely. If it has an inline gas filter check that first befor going into the carburator, might be a simple fix.

Good ideas Tom and I’d try those before doing mine.

SEAFOAM, I bought my mower in 1999 always treat the gas and always STARTS 1st PULL., INSTALL A NEW PLUG.

Seafoam might not work in this situation Grumpy. The motor has to run awhile for seafoam to be able to do its work. It usually takes a tank or two for the effects of seafoam to work, like take the varnish and water out of the fuel passages. Id do what Tom says first and empty all the fuel out of the fuel tank and even take the gas line off and bleed that too. If you can take just the float bowl off and empty that, it would help by getting (all) the old gas out of the system. If none of that works its time to open up the carburetor.

Thanks tapping seemed to work. The motor is running good again and for good measure I went and got some seafoam. Thanks to every one (except Iowa ) for your suggestions.

Floats get sticky with time if you aren’t running some kind of cleaner in the fuel. Seafoam is top notch. The tapping just help jiggle the float loose again so fuel could run freely.

OOH RAH

Thats ok Tom, but that was your next step, glad its running for you. If you want to know the basics of working on a lawn mower carburetor stop by a local lawn mower repair shop and ask for a junk one, they’ll probably give you one. Take the whole carburetor apart and familiarize yourself with the parts and you’ll see why they need to be clean. That way if you decide sometime to repair one it won’t be brand new with opening one up. Changing the needle valve and seat isn’t hard at all and you’ll see within a minute how to do it and how it works and why.

If you are using gas that has ethanol in it for small motors I highly suggest stopping it. That is some of the worst stuff you can put through a small engine. No amount of sea foam can correct the long term effects of ethanol in your engine. If I don’t post after this, the presidentt had a drone take me out for saying that!

Some of the seals and O rings will be damaged by the alcohol. I always use regular gas that doesn’t have any alcohol in it for this reason. No alcohol, no problems with seals and O rings, especially older motors.

Mossydan sorry I was referring to Iowa_josh comment. Yours was good advice and thanks for the info!

Tom, My brother is a gasoline and diesel mechanic and they work mostly on high dollar diesels and equipment like Caterpillars, He said they put Seafoam in thier fuel systems, crank cases, transmissions and rear end assemblies. When he told me that I said even transmissions, and he said everything. That’s how good Seafoam is as a cleaner and moisture remover. He said where he works they buy it by the case and they use it when they do required service work that’s covered by insurance. If insurance companies covers its effects its good stuff.

I took it all in good faith anyway Tom, don’t be afraid to get an old carburetor and take it apart to see how to fix one if you ever need too, its really not that hard. I was doing it at 16 and have ever since.